The Man Up to Cancer community is mourning the loss of two wolves this week. We talk regularly about walking each other home, but I…
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There’s a well-worn cliché, and lots of old-time comedy bits, that men and their mothers-in-law don’t get along. I never experienced that cliché myself. My…
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I finally pulled the trigger on something I’ve been thinking about and working toward for more than a year. I resigned my volunteer leadership role…
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I’ve written before about one of my favorite sacred places, the grounds of the Wind Point Lighthouse in Racine, Wisconsin, my hometown. I’ve had the…
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The last few days have been a whirlwind of meetings, conversations, receptions and manning a booth at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2024 annual…
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My maternal grandmother, Dorothy, warned us early and often: ”Don’t get old.” She died at age 83, which seems like an alarmingly short life when…
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The precarity of life — the topic I write about most often these days — made itself known again this weekend. Precarity, to me, is…
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Fighting Back Giving Back GratitudeFive percent is everything: Reflections on 12 years of survivorship
March 27, 2024, marks 12 years since I was diagnosed with what turned out to be stageIIIB rectal cancer. 4,383 days. Bonus time. Time that,…
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My heart is full of joy after eight beautiful days on the road. I spent four days in Tucson, Arizona, for the Cologuard Classic, a…
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The lovely Sarah and I are flying to Tucson on Tuesday, March 5, for the Cologuard Classic, the PGA golf tournament presented by Exact Sciences.…
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It all started during the blizzard that hit Knoxville in the middle of January. Ten inches of snow fell in the city, the most at…
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Friday, February 16, 2024, was a graduation day of sorts. My last appointment with my radiation oncologist, Dr. Joseph Meyer. There was no bell to…
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It’s a weird confluence of events. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday fall on the same day this year. Not the first time these dates have…
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A new Netflix documentary about the creation of the 1985 song and video, “We Are the World,” which raised money for Ethiopia famine relief, brought…
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I miss farting. I Tweeted those words in the fall of 2013, just a few months after I was declared No Evidence of Disease following…
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The coming of the New Year means social media feeds are awash in posts about all folks have accomplished over the previous 365 days. There…
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The opening notes of Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” make me unstuck in time. Like Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, I’m transported…
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I’ve always been drawn to aspects of the monastic life. Not the haircut, although mine is thinning and I’ve been getting it cut shorter in…
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My fingernails are blue Two of them, anyway. My left thumb and pinkie. Got color on them when the lovely Sarah and I got manicures…
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Michael and Kelli Simon have started every day of the last few weeks with the same question: Is this the day? Michael and Kelli have…
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“Most men, they’ll tell you a story straight through. It won’t be complicated, but it won’t be interesting either.” That quote from Big Fish, my…
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Anytime I visit my mom, brothers, sister and their families in my hometown — Racine, Wisconsin — I always, always make a pilgrimage to the…
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When I heard the words “you have cancer,” I quickly came to understand the limits of my mortality. I actually have an expiration date. Time…
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In my cancer advocacy life I’ve had opportunities to do some pretty amazing things. Shared my story at the first-ever Cologuard national sales meeting. Spoken…
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I hadn’t seen my friend Rick Day in about 10 years. It was, I think, the summer after I finished cancer treatment. We met at…
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I’ve written before of my abiding love for The Road, the late Cormac McCarthy’s spare novel about a man’s journey to get his young son…
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Bodies of water, whether lakes, rivers, creeks, streams or oceans, never fail to draw my attention. The lovely Sarah and I were richly blessed to…
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I stole a bunch of apples this weekend. Not literally. For the second post in a row, a lyric from my new favorite musical, Kimberly…
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Picture it. New York City. Saturday, June 10, 2023. I’m standing orchestra right in the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.…
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It’s been a month since my oncologist released me from his care after 10 years of being a cancer survivor under surveillance. It was and…
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Dear Mr. President, I expect you get thousands of letters each week so I hope this one makes it to your desk. I got the…
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My oncologist gave me the best gift I could have asked for this Christmas. He released me from his care. At almost 11 years since…
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Christmas looks different this year. Blinking lights on IV poles not twinkling tree lights. The mechanized roar of blood pressure cuffs and sequential compression cuffs…
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One of my favorite actors on one of my all-time favorite shows is making colostomy news this week. And not in a great way. Friends…
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In my post-cancer life I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of being involved in several great organizations, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network,…
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My favorite spot to visit in Washington, D.C., is the National Cathedral. The beauty of the Gothic architecture and the stillness of the sanctuary make…
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WASHINGTON, DC — In a city of traffic and noise, Constitution Gardens on the National Mall is mostly silent save for the crunch of footsteps…
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BRANSON, Mo. — I can scarcely wrap my mind around the events of the last two days. I’ve been privileged to participate in a retreat…
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When I experienced my first colonoscopy in 2012, saying ”bottom’s up” beforehand was laugh out loud funny. Ten years later it still is, but my…
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“All water is holy water.” ― Rajiv Joseph For as far back as I have memory, I have been drawn to the water: lakes, rivers, streams, waterfalls,…
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Losing the love of your life once in a lifetime is tragedy enough. How do you go on when it happens twice? My mom is…
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As a colorectal cancer survivor, “knowing your numbers” is practically a lifestyle. The Carcinoembryonic Antigen, or CEA, is a tumor marker that indicates the activity…
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I told the following story before a live audience on Monday, June 6, 2022, as part of the Knox News Storytellers Project. I’m grateful to…
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I’ve been binge-watching the classic show, ER, the last few weeks. I loved the show when it first ran from 1994 to 2009. It has…
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I’ve been talking a walk down memory lane the last few days. All the way back to high school. I’m being inducted into the William…
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I’m not terribly choosy when it comes to making escapes from the real world. I’m equally comfortable and content in the mountains or on the…
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It’s a question I get asked almost every time I share my cancer journey and my passion for cancer advocacy. “Why stay?” Trevor Maxwell, founder…
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“…My story is one of loss and gain. Its also one of faith, or of different, sequential faiths, beginning with my arrogant, unwarranted and since-abandoned…
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The atrium coffee shop at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is sunlit and relatively quiet. I’m on a break between scans to pinpoint newly diagnosed…
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The opportunity to share gratitude over a delicious meal with loved ones doesn’t get much better. My favorite part of…
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Good news from my oncologist’s office today. The elevated blood calcium level is nothing to be concerned about. Sarah and I were driving home from…
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I have a confession to make: I’m not Superman. I’ve played him since my cancer diagnosis and treatment nine years ago. The time has come…
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I was presented with the Volunteer Award for Excellence in Advocacy during the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s annual Leadership Summit on Sunday, Sept.…
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I’ve been hesitant to write about this, lest the situation sound like sour grapes on my part. Sour grapes are not my intention; well, maybe…
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It’s the unanswerable question: what would life be like if I never had cancer? There are any number of counterfactuals to ponder. I lost 100…
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A friend placed her hand on mine to tell me her father-in-law with brain cancer has taken a turn for the worse. I placed my…
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Photo by Alex Iby on Unsplash…
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The return of Standard Time, that whole “fall back” thing, feels like a slap in the face in 2020. As if a newly resurgent uncontrolled…
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Today is National Cancer Survivors Day, a day intended to honor and celebrate life after cancer. I have to admit, I wasn’t really feeling it…